If you didn’t already know, the Santa Barbara Bowl kicked off its annual season of hosting live music and entertainment just days before the mayhem of Coachella taking place last month. Once 2017 had arrived, and the festival lineup had dropped – Santa Barbarians along with those in surrounding areas were crossing their fingers & toes for some of the festival acts to make an appearance at the beloved venue. This year marks the 2nd season where Goldenvoice would be the official in-house promoter for the Santa Barbara Bowl, and our wishes were indeed granted.
In addition to making their US return from across the pond to play Coachella, New Order announced a headlining date at the Santa Barbara Bowl (with special guests POLIÇA as support) that fell in between both weekends of the California Music & Arts Festival. Specifically, the show happened to fall on the Tuesday following Weekend 1. Whether you’ve attended Coachella or an event that’s set up like a festival that requires a significant amount of energy over the course of a couple days, there’s one thing that we as attendees can agree on. The first couple of days following said event in which you just poured your heart, soul, and bank account into will most likely be a gamble of experiencing a variety of emotions. Reminiscing on the highest of the highs, while welcoming back reality is a true juggling act that most of us end up facing. Call it cliché, but there has never been a more relevant time to emphasize on experiencing the ultimate “Blue Monday”.
Thanks to both bands, decent weather, and a packed venue – Tuesday evening felt like an entirely different beast from the day prior, and exactly what we were craving to make it through the rest of the week. 
Minneapolis four-piece POLICA were also making a return to the 805, with their SB debut originating in 2014 during the week of New Noise at SOhO Music Club. Since that intimate October date, the band released a deluxe edition of their 2013 Sophomore effort Shulamith, an eye-opening beast of a record that left one hell of an impression while named after feminist Shulamith Firestone. Last year marked the release of United Crushers, POLICA’s 3rd full-length to date, and whether you’ve had the chance to listen to the album or see the band live recently – the emotions on United Crushers are just as strong, but there’s a lot more excitement hiding behind this specific record. Keeping it challenging yet stimulating, POLICA titled their latest record after a group of friends who live a rather specific lifestyle (anti-comfort/anti-convenient) on the Northside of Minneapolis that the band identifies as aspirational, and go by United Crushers.
“United Crushers, views are lusher”.
It was no surprise that the band delivered the best from each of their 3 records as the sun started to set, and the crowd at the Bowl continued to grow. There will always be something jaw-dropping about watching two drummers perform the same song, but with patterns that often parallel with each other or head in different directions. If you thought POLICA’s discography couldn’t be topped or amplified, just wait until you catch them live. No need to thank us for introducing us to your next obsession if they haven’t already claimed that spot.

At one point during the last quarter of the 7 o’clock hour, members of the British Rock band New Order  made their way to the stage to witness a full house of passionate fans both young & . The time spent in between bands while the stage crew assembled the transition of instruments gave the crowd the perfect opportunity to rant and rave over their love for the band and the air truly wreaked of nostalgia. What else would you expect from a band formed by the remaining members of Joy Division back in 1980 after the death of frontman Ian Curtis, and carried on to make music that combined post-punk with electronic music that essentially existed as the top formula for dance music in the 80’s. With a new album still resting on their shoulders from 2016, New Order took ahold of the night and ran with it. Shelling out the hits to keep the nostalgia alive while weaving in and out of crowd favorites allowed New Order to transform one of the biggest dance parties my eyes have ever experienced in this city, with an effortless manner.
 
 
SET LIST: 
1. Singularity
2. Ceremony
3. Academic
4. Crystal
5. Restless
6. Your Silent Face
7. Tutti Frutti
8. People on the High Line
9. Bizarre Love Triangle
10. Waiting for the Sirens’ Call (Planet Funk remix)
11. Plastic
12. The Perfect Kiss
13. True Faith
14. Blue Monday
15. Temptation
Encore
16. Decades (Joy Division Cover)
17. Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division Cover)

Special thanks to Jessica Puchli & Goldenvoice for allowing Let Your Ears Decide to cover this incredible event! The 2017 season for the Santa Barbara Bowl is already stacked with the show announcements thus far, and with an experience as memorable as this night was – you’d be a fool to miss out on what’s coming up! sbbowl.com